You know the room!
It started off as a “spare room”, “office”, “nursery”, “hobby space”, “guest room”… and now it’s basically a locked cupboard for your conscience. The I’ll Deal With It Later Room.
It contains:
- bags of clothes you might sell
- boxes from the last house move (three years ago)
- a treadmill you hate
- half a business idea
- Christmas decorations in July
- and at least one item that belongs to nobody and still somehow lives with you
If you’re in Tamworth and your “later room” is quietly eating part of your house, this post is your way back out. No “manifesting”. No beige baskets. Just a simple system that gets the room usable again, and stops it reverting back to chaos next month.
Why the “later room” happens (and why it won’t fix itself)
The “later room” isn’t a tidying problem. It’s a decision problem.
Most homes don’t have a clutter problem. They have:
- no buffer space for life events (moving, renovating, kids, bereavement, divorce, business stock, hobbies)
- no clear rules for what stays vs what goes
- and too many delayed decisions living in boxes
So the room becomes a holding pen for “not sure” items. And because it’s behind a door, it feels contained. Until it isn’t.
The fix is not “organise it better”. The fix is: make decisions faster, and move the “not now” items out of the house so you can actually live in it. For a more detailed approach, get our free declutter guide!
The rules (so you don’t spend six hours just making neater piles)
Read these once, then follow them like you’re defusing a bomb.
- One room. One outcome.
Pick what you want the room to be when you’re done: guest room, office, gym, kid room, calm empty space. Don’t try to make it “everything”. - No buying storage until the end.
You don’t need more boxes. You need fewer decisions avoided. - Set a timer.
Do it in blocks: 45–60 minutes with a hard stop. If you try to “finish it in a day”, you’ll burn out and abandon it halfway through like a sad DIY project. - Nothing goes back into that room unless it belongs in that room.
This is how you stop the relapse.
Step 1: The 60-minute triage (quick wins, no emotions)
Before you “sort”, you’re going to remove the obvious nonsense. Set a timer for 60 minutes.
Do this in order:
1) Bin bag first
Grab a bin bag and do a fast sweep for: packaging, broken stuff, old paperwork you clearly don’t need, empty boxes, random cables with no device, things that are actually just rubbish.
No thinking. Just remove.
2) Laundry basket second
Anything that belongs elsewhere in the house goes into a laundry basket (not back to its “proper place” yet). You’re clearing space, not doing a full home reset.
3) Donation box third
Anything you already know you won’t keep: charity shop pile. Don’t overthink it.
By the end of 60 minutes, you should have more floor visible, and less “doom clutter”.
Step 2: The 5-pile method (the only sorting system you need)
Now you sort what’s left into five piles. Label them with paper if you have to.
Pile 1: KEEP HERE
Items that genuinely belong in that room (desk stuff for an office, bedding for a guest room, etc.).
Pile 2: KEEP ELSEWHERE
Items you’re keeping, but they belong somewhere else in the house.
Pile 3: STORE (Not Now)
Seasonal, sentimental, occasional-use, business stock overflow, spare furniture, kids stuff you’re not ready to deal with, hobby kit… things you want to keep but not live with.
Pile 4: SELL/DONATE
Anything you don’t use and don’t love, but has value or can help someone else.
Pile 5: BIN/RECYCLE
Be ruthless. If it’s broken, mouldy, incomplete, or “I’ll fix it one day” (you won’t), it goes.
Important: If you touch an item and start negotiating with yourself, it’s probably Pile 3 (Store) or Pile 4 (Sell/Donate). Your “later room” exists because you keep promoting “maybe” items into “keep”.
Step 3: The decision filters (so you stop lying to yourself)
Use these filters fast. You’re not holding a tribunal.
The “Would I buy this again?” filter
If you wouldn’t spend money on it today, why are you paying for it in space and stress?
The “Have I used it in 12 months?” filter
If not, it’s store/sell/donate, unless it’s genuinely seasonal or sentimental.
The “If it vanished, would I replace it?” filter
If the answer is no, it’s not that important.
The “Is this costing me a room?” filter
If your clutter is consuming an entire room, it’s not “just stuff”. It’s rent-free squatting.
Step 4: Pack the STORE pile properly (so it doesn’t become chaos in a different shape)
If you decide to store items, do it like you want Future You to still respect you.
- Use solid boxes (not bags that tear and sag)
- Label two sides: “Christmas decor”, “Kids clothes age 6–7”, “Spare chairs”, “Business stock”
- Keep a simple list on your phone: Box 1–10 + what’s in them
- Put anything you’ll need soon near the front (bedding, seasonal gear)
This is the difference between “storage” and “a second later room”.
Step 5: Where self storage actually helps (and when it’s overkill)
Self storage isn’t just for moving house. It’s for when you need breathing space.
Storage makes sense if:
- you want the room back now, but you’re not ready to decide on everything
- you’re renovating or decorating and need furniture out the way
- you’re downsizing, inheriting items, or merging households
- you run a small business and stock is taking over your home
- you’ve got seasonal stuff that only comes out a few times a year
If you’re in or around Tamworth, indoor self storage is basically a pressure-release valve for your home. You keep what you want, but you stop living inside it.
Tamworth angle: how Brown Box helps you kill the “later room” for good
At Brown Box Storage in Tamworth, the goal is simple: get your house back without drama.
- Indoor, secure storage (dry, clean, and not sitting in a muddy yard)
- Ideal for the “Store (Not Now)” pile: spare furniture, boxes, seasonal gear, business overflow
- You don’t need to commit your whole life to a declutter marathon. You just need somewhere for the not now stuff to go.
And once that room is usable again, you’ll wonder why you tolerated it for so long. Humans are strange like that.
Quick checklist: your “later room” reset in one go
- Choose the room’s purpose (guest room / office / calm space)
- 60-minute triage: bin bag, laundry basket, donation box
- Sort into 5 piles: Keep Here / Keep Elsewhere / Store / Sell-Donate / Bin
- Box and label the Store pile properly
- Remove Store pile from the house (this is the magic step)
- Only then organise what actually stays in the room
Contact us!
If you’re in Tamworth and you want your spare room back without launching a three-week emotional excavation, we can help. Store the “not now” stuff properly and reclaim your home.
Get in touch with Brown Box Storage and we’ll help you size a unit and get moved in without the hard sell. And if you want the ruthless version of this system, grab our decluttering guide and start sorting your life out one box at a time.